It doesn't take long for the first group of orcs to find me, I have only been walking about an hour. The only problem I have when dealing with them is that my reach is shorter in human form. It mainly means I can't kill them as easily as I am used to and the fight takes longer.

44 Orcs defeated! 44,000 Exp gained!

After collecting their ears I start walking again, but I don't clean myself. Normally after a fight I use the cleaning stone, but I think dried orc blood will help my disguise. It is really uncomfortable, especially after it dries and starts flaking, but I resist the urge to scratch.

By the time I reach the fort I expect to be filthy and to smell absolutely horrible. Since my story will include trudging through the orc lands for days or weeks that should be expected. After all, if I show up to the fort perfectly clean, anyone with any brains will be suspicious of me.

As I am walking I stumble across a small camp of orcs, about thirty from the look of it. Half of them are asleep, but the ones that are awake quickly kick them awake. Then all thirty orcs come charging at me only for me to cut them down.

29 Orcs defeated! 29,000 Exp gained!

As I am retrieving their ears I come across a crude backpack which I quickly empty. The contents are fairly foul looking, but I don't take a closer look, I am not that curious. However, I do use the cleaning stone on the backpack, it will get dirty again by the time I reach the fort.

However, the backpack is necessary since I don't want anyone seeing me use my pouches. No matter how different the humans of the mainland might be, I doubt bags of holding are common. Definitely not something a mercenary would be carrying, at least that is what I think.

For all I know I could be completely wrong and magic items could be very common. However, until I know that for a fact it is safer for me to hide my pouches. Now that I have the backpack I have everything I need for my disguise.

However, I am in no rush to get to the fort, not when there is so much easy exp roaming around. Now that there is no gate it is going to take months to get home at least, so a few small delays won't mean much. Especially since I was able to talk to everyone so that they won't worry too much.

Besides, I am hoping to rile the orcs up, after all, my plan won't work if they don't attack. It also needs to be a fairly serious attack, a small attack won't be able to break through the wall. Even if I manage to sabotage all the siege engines, the orcs still need enough numbers.

So for the next few days I wander back and forth as I make my way south. Each day I run into several small to medium groups of orcs and wipe them out. It is not enough to seriously reduce their numbers but I am hoping it is enough to enrage them.

381 Orcs defeated! 381,000 Exp gained!

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Since I am pretty close to the fort I stop to make sure my disguise is complete before I continue. The main part is taking out all the ears, then I put my belt and pouches in the backpack. After that I use the ears to cover them up and fill the backpack, then I head for the fort.

The soldiers manning the wall give me quite a few looks as I pass but none of them move to stop me. The soldiers manning the fort do the same, that is until I walk through the gates. As soon as I am inside the fort I find myself surrounded by over a dozen guards.

Guard Captain says "Stop right there! Identify yourself!"

As ordered, I stop, but instead of answering the question I ask for water instead. One of the guards hands over a canteen of water which I drain in one long drink. After handing back the canteen with a thank you I turn my attention to the guard captain.

"My name is Ash and I am a mercenary."

Guard Captain says "Where did you get that sword?"

"Looted it off an orc I killed."

Guard1 says "That means Sir Keith is definitely dead, right?"

Guard2 says "Probably!"

Guard Captain says "When you killed this orc, were there any other bodies around?"

"Only more orcs! I'm guessing you know the previous owner?"

Guard Captain says "He led an expedition into the orc lands. Were you not a part of it?"

"No, I was shipwrecked."

Guard Captain says "Where? How long ago? What ship?"

"Quite a ways to the north of here. Days or weeks, I lost track. The Argunte."

Guard Captain says "If you are a mercenary, where are your weapons and armor?"

"Had to ditch them, if not I wouldn't have made it to shore."

Guard Captain says "What happened to the Argunte?"

"No clue, I am not a sailor. It wasn't a storm, but other than that I can't tell you."

Guard3 says "If you ditched all your weapons how did you kill the orcs?"

"The first one I killed with my bare hands. After that I used their weapons."

Guard Captain says "We don't allow vagabonds in the fort, do you have money?"

"That depends, is there a bounty on orcs?"

Guard1 says "Of course there is!"

"Then I have plenty of money."

At that I take the backpack and drop it on the ground, then I open it and show the ears. All the guards, except the captain, just stare at the backpack with open mouths. The captain looks impressed, but not as much as the rest of the guards.

Guard Captain says "Alright, you may enter."

"Okay, can you tell me where the bounty office is? Also, where can I get a meal and a bath?"

Guard2 says "The bounty office is over there."

Guard1 says "The only place that has a bath is the Silver Griffon, but it's expensive!"

"I don't care! I want to be clean!"

The captain ignores me but the others laugh as they all return to their duties. Then I pick up my backpack, head over, and walk into the bounty office. When I enter I find the clerk sleeping with his feet up on his desk, until I make some noise.

Clerk says "Oh, welcome. Whew, you stink!"

"Yeah, sorry. Need money so I can get a bath!"

Clerk says "Right, what have you got?"

As soon as he asks, I take the backpack and dump the ears onto his desk. His eyes go wide as he sees just how many ears there are, but he recovers quickly. He starts counting the ears, and he is quick and professional about it.

Clerk says "That's a total of four hundred and fifty four ears."

"What's the bounty?"

Clerk says "Ten silver per. So that's a total of forty-five gold and forty silver!"

"Sounds good!"

Clerk says "Give me a minute, I don't keep that much money at the desk."

"No problem."

The clerk leaves for a few minutes and returns with a guard carrying a locked chest. The guard puts the chest down and unlocks it, then watches the clerk count out the money. Once my money is taken out the guard relocks the chest and takes it with him when he leaves.

Clerk says "Here you go!"